


Late Night Conversations

by AgentMaryMargaretSkitz, IncendiaGlacies



Series: Legends of S.H.I.E.L.D [4]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. AU, Gen, Team Dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2019-04-01 03:46:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13989804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentMaryMargaretSkitz/pseuds/AgentMaryMargaretSkitz, https://archiveofourown.org/users/IncendiaGlacies/pseuds/IncendiaGlacies
Summary: Restlessness on the Waverider leads to accusations, team bonding, secret keeping, and some much needed conversation.AoS AU





	Late Night Conversations

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short fic of team bonding before we get back to the actual plot stuff we have coming!

“Ray, I don’t think it’s going to work.”

“Yes it will,” Ray insisted, “We just need to replace the thermocouplings and-” his next words were drowned out by the sparks his invention gave.

Lily sighed and patted his shoulder comfortingly, “I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine,” Ray shook his head, “Like the greats said – I haven’t failed, just found another method that didn’t work.”

“Edison, and you’re paraphrasing,” Lily said, “And you have now found nine different methods that don’t work tonight and it’s getting really late.”

“But I’m so close!”

“I think we should call it a night. We’ll get back to the shrink ray tomorrow.”

“It’s not a shrink ray,” Ray pouted.

“We’ll discuss names later. For now, can we please at least just take a break?” Lily begged, “Come on, I’ll even make your favourite sandwich.”

“Ooh, ham and apple on gluten free bread?” Ray asked excitedly.

“Obviously. Wouldn’t want to poison you, no matter how much Nate thinks your gluten allergy is fake.”

“He means well,” Ray shrugged in his friend’s defense.

“Alright, let’s shut it down for tonight,” Lily said. Together they shut down the holotable and stored away their inventions for the night.

“I’m sure if I can just recalibrate the-”

“Yes, but you’re still forgetting about the enthalpy of reaction that will occur-”

“No, because I accounted for that in the loss of energy with-”

“This is complete and utter disrespect to your SO, Zee,” Nate’s voice carried through the hallway. Ray and Lily shared a look before following said voice.

“I didn’t do anything this time, Nate. Wasn’t me!” Zee answered. Ray and Lily entered the room and laughed at the sight they saw. Nate was standing in the middle of the room covered in what looked like flour and there seemed to be some feathers in his hair, and on his shirt.

“What happened to you, Agent Heywood?” Lily asked as she bit back a laugh.

Nate turned to glare at them, “Apparently, Zee thought it would be funny to prank me during one of my late night workouts.”

“Told you before, it wasn’t me,” Zee rolled her eyes.

“Then what were you doing up so late?” Nate interrogated.

“Nothing. I was just…messing around on my computer,” Zee gestured to her laptop. She surreptitiously deleted her history so that no one could backtrack what she had been searching for in SHIELD’s databases. “I just couldn’t sleep so I thought I’d surf the Internet. People have hobbies other than punching things, you know?”

“It’s true, when I was a kid I had a rock collection,” Ray said.

Nate turned back to them, “Well, if it wasn’t Zee, then what are you two doing up so late?”

“Yeah,” Zee narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms at them, “I thought the Sunshine Twins needed a full eight hours of rest to be functional?”

“Well it is the doctor recommended number of hours,” Ray responded.

“Actually studies show adults don’t need a full eight hours. Only six to seven. Eight hours might actually be too much,” Lily corrected.

“Well either way, I don’t think we’ve gotten that much sleep since coming onto the Waverider,” Ray rolled his eyes.

“Guys! Can you two, for once, just focus?” Nate asked.

“No, we didn’t pull the prank on you,” Lily responded.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t even know where to get feathers from. Those look like ostrich feathers actually,” Ray said. Everyone looked at him strangely. “What, I was an Eagle Scout.”

“We’ve been in the lab. Working on the shrink ray,” Lily explained.

“I still don’t like the name,” Ray muttered.

“We’ll discuss it later.”

“There, you see? None of us pranked you!” Zee threw her hands up.

“Well somebody did and somebody is clearly lying!” Nate said, “What, you expect me to believe Rider or Hunter pulled this off?” The four of them shared a look. The former seemed far too nice to do anything of the sort, and the latter was nicknamed The Cavalry and probably wouldn’t know what a joke was if it hit him square in the face.

“Alright, well Ray and I were gonna get a late night snack. You wanna join us and clean yourself up?” Lily offered.

Nate grumbled but followed the trio to the kitchen where they found yet another surprising sight. Gideon was sitting on the counter holding a mug of what Lily assumed to be hot chocolate given the whipped cream she could see, and Rip was leaning against said counter speaking far too softly for any of them to be able to make out his words. Rip looked up the second they walked in and took a step away from Gideon. Lily looked down, feeling somewhat awkward, like they had interrupted something private.

Gideon turned around the moment Rip stepped away and frowned at them, “What are you all doing up? And what on earth happened to you, Nathaniel?”

Nate sighed, “Someone thought it would be funny to prank me. No one’s fessing up, but considering we’re up a few thousand feet in the air, I’d say the suspects are limited.”

Gideon stifled a laugh and even Rip had a small smile on his face. “You look ridiculous,” Gideon burst out unable to hold it in.

“Yeah, yeah,” Nate rolled his eyes, “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to clean myself off a bit.” He didn’t wait for a response and grabbed a wet paper towel before scrubbing the flour off.

“I think you missed a feather,” Zee teased.

Nate glared at her, “I’ve got it. And for the record, tampering with SHIELD equipment is considered a huge offense – it should be off limits!”

“What happened exactly?” Ray asked.

“The punching bag just split open, and I was doused with all of this,” Nate gestured to the mess, “Clearly replaced my normal bags with lower quality ones. I’m watching you, Sunshine Twins.”

“We had nothing to do with it!” Lily raised her hands in surrender.

“Right, because you two were in the lab and Zee was on her laptop,” Nate turned to the leaders, “And what were you two doing?”

Gideon narrowed her eyes at him, “Watch yourself, Agent Heywood. Are you accusing your superiors?”

“No Ma’am,” Nate backtracked, “Just – just curious.”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Gideon said tactfully.

Rip shrugged, “I was flying the plane, it’s on autopilot now. Thought I’d make her a hot chocolate, considering the last time Gideon used the kitchen-”

“I said I was sorry!” Gideon snapped.

“Well, if we’re all up this late,” Ray started slowly, “Then we might as well make the most of it. How about some team bonding exercises? Two truths and a lie anyone?” There was a resounding groan around the majority of the team, making Ray’s face drop while Lily patted him on the shoulder.

“I have a better idea, Dr. Palmer,” Gideon smiled and turned to Rip, “How about a game of Scrabble?”

* * *

 

“That is not a real word!”

“Of course it is,” Rip rolled his eyes, “Look it up.”

“Already on it,” Zee announced as she searched on her phone, “Aglet - the plastic tip on the end of a shoelace.”

“So that’s what that is, I always forget,” Ray said.

“No, no, that doesn’t count!” Nate complained.

“Real English words only!” Lily agreed.

“It is English, I would know,” Rip rolled his eyes.

“You used your Britishness against us!” Zee complained.

“My Britishness?” Rip raised an eyebrow.

“Yes!” they chorused.

“Just because you didn’t know the word doesn’t mean you can blame me for beating all of you,” Rip sighed, “Gideon, tell them.”

Gideon frowned at the board before shaking her head, “Oh no, not this time. I used ‘facetious’ and you used ‘aglet’ and won. How is that fair? Rematch!” Gideon’s challenge was met with various yawns and she looked at the team. “Or perhaps not tonight. Off to bed, all of you.”

“No, no, we can stay up!” Lily insisted while Ray nodded along.

“You most certainly cannot,” Gideon said sternly, “Agent Heywood keeps nodding off over there. Bed, all of you. We’ll have to be back at it tomorrow anyways.”

“You know for someone that was sent to Aruba on mandatory vacation you’re still pretty high strung,” Zee said.

“It’s a magical place,” Gideon said, “And did wonders for my mood – I am not high strung. Now go to bed. That’s an order.”

“Fine,” Zee grumbled while Nate insisted he was fully aware of what was going on. The sunshine twins grabbed the empty mugs and plates and cleaned up the table. There were half-hearted waves and more yawns as the four of them made their way out of the room. Gideon was fairly certain she heard Zee complaining that she wasn’t her mom. How cute.

Gideon turned to see Rip staring at her intently. “What?”

“You’re not going to bed?” he asked.

“Not sleepy yet,” Gideon shrugged as she looked away.

“The bags under your eyes would state otherwise,” Rip said. Gideon shot him a glare and he raised his hands in surrender. “Would you like to talk about it?”

“Just a nightmare, that’s all,” Gideon dismissed. But it hadn’t been just a nightmare. It was the same one. Over and over. The Battle of New York, the scepter being stabbed through her chest. She always awoke in a cold sweat, out of breath, and gasping for air after it. Sometimes it was like she could still feel it embedded in her. She should have been dead. She did die.

Rip squeezed her hand, “You know I’m here if you ever want to-”

“I know, I just – I don’t know how,” Gideon whispered. She didn’t know how to describe the utter terror she felt. How sometimes it felt too real, she was reliving it all over and over again. Like she was stuck in an endless time loop.

“I know,” Rip soothed, “But it does help to talk about it. You told me that, after Calvert.”

“I remember. Did you ever have nightmares?” she asked quietly.

“Sometimes it felt like every night.”

Gideon nodded, swallowing roughly. “I don’t – it’s all I see whenever I close my eyes. I’m right back there and I just freeze.”

“Gideon, look at me,” Rip tilted her chin to face him, “You are right here, with me.” He squeezed her hand tighter, “It’s over, you are alive. And you’re here. With us. You’re safe. Okay?”

“It’s easier to remember that when I’m awake,” Gideon admitted.

“Well then I guess we’ll just have to stay awake for a bit longer,” Rip shrugged easily, “How about we watch a movie?”

“Let me guess, a Western again?” Gideon teased.

Rip frowned, “What’s wrong with it? I thought you liked them?”

“Well…”

“Gideon, you watch them with me all the time.”

“Transitive property,” Gideon explained to Rip’s unimpressed look, “You like Westerns, I like you, therefore I watch Westerns with you. Oh Rip, don’t look so glum, I like them just fine. Promise.”

“If you’re sure,” Rip said warily.

“Of course I am,” Gideon pushed him off the sofa, “Now, go put in your favourite one.” Rip sighed at her and moved to the TV to do as he was told. Gideon watched him thoughtfully and asked, “So where did you get the ostrich feathers from anyways?”

“Sara owed me a favour,” Rip said flippantly, “I didn’t ask questions and neither did she.”

“Yes, that does seem to be the best way to work with her,” Gideon agreed. Rip nodded and sat back down next to her and cued up the movie. “So what did he do that annoyed you so much?”

“Used my gun.”

“You are so possessive over that thing,” Gideon rolled her eyes.

“Matter of life and death,” Rip told her seriously. Gideon nodded and shifted closer to him. She wasn’t going to argue with his logic. Besides, they had never even suspected Rip even once. But the team hadn’t known them back in the academy. Who they were back then.

“Do you ever wish we could go back to the old days?” Gideon couldn’t help but ask, “Before…before everything. You were married, the Avengers were only an idea. Things were different then.”

“Whole new world out there,” Rip commented, “And if it weren’t then we wouldn’t be here right now. Nostalgia is fine every now and then, but it’s better to live in the present.”

“Right,” Gideon sighed and tried to focus on the movie. He was the practicality to her head in the clouds according to Lyla. Gideon leaned against him and put her head on his shoulder, “Thank you, for looking out for me.”

“It’s what I’m here for,” Rip murmured quietly. More than she knew.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos/Comments?


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